Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

ALVA

T he echo of Santa’s disapproval lingered like a frigid wind, even long after we’d left the great hall. Nick’s cold demeanor hurt, but I could understand his dismissiveness. What really had made my foundation crack had been the sting of Santa’s words. They’d cut deeper than I could have imagined. My position as head elf had been my dream, my family’s pride. To hear Santa Claus himself question my competence—it felt like my entire world was crumbling beneath me.

And to see Nick’s face as his father tore into him… it cracked my heart in half. His usual charm and confidence had been stripped away, leaving behind a man who felt like he would never measure up. For all his faults, Nick wasn’t the careless rake everyone thought he was, including me. He had tried—tried to take responsibility, to protect his realm—and his father hadn’t even given him credit for that.

I felt for him in ways I hadn’t expected. Watching him stand up to his father stirred something in me. Something I wasn’t ready to face. But I couldn’t let myself entertain those thoughts, not when there was so much to do.

Things that would normally bring me joy and a sense of accomplishment loomed over me like a mountain ready to topple. Tonight, I had to ensure Comet and Blitzen received the potion and that they were monitored for recovery, plus check on the other reindeer for any signs of illness. Tomorrow morning, I would need to oversee toy production quotas for dispatch, verify sleigh calibration tests and flight simulation schedules, finalize details for the Christmas Eve dinner and the Christmas Day Jubilee, and lastly, coordinate the schedule for Nick’s courtship dates.

My heart tightened as if someone had a vice grip around its beating flesh. The courtship. Just the thought of it made my stomach twist. It wasn’t enough that I would have to witness the prince flirt with other females—I would also have to plan every detail of his dates. And worst of all, I wasn’t one of the suitresses. That fact, more than anything, reminded me of the gulf between us.

What the blasted tundra was wrong with me? I shook my head, trying to refocus. I needed to get Nick out of my head. But most importantly, out of my heart.

Duty first. Always.

The stable elves had already prepared a space for the sick reindeer, and I hurried over to where Comet and Blitzen lay on thick bedding. Their eyes were dull, their breaths labored. The sight had me on the brink of tears.

“Miss Brightwinter,” one of the stable elves said, his face creased with worry. “We’ve done what we can to keep them comfortable.”

“You’ve done well,” I assured him, pulling the vial of shimmering potion from my pocket. “Let’s hope this works. ”

Carefully, I measured out the potion and administered it to each reindeer. Their reactions were immediate—tiny flickers of energy sparked in their eyes and their breathing steadied. Relief washed over me.

“Monitor them closely,” I instructed the elves. “If there’s any change, send for me immediately.”

Once I was sure the reindeer were settled, I moved to the horse stables. It was an excuse, really. I wasn’t ready to go home, to face my family’s questions and pretend everything was fine. They’d see right through me. The weight of secrecy hit me like a cascade of boulders, making it hard to breathe. There was no way we would be able to keep the entire kingdom unaware of what was happening. Sooner or later, word would get out. I’d instructed the stable elves to keep things hushed, but still. What if other animals became sick? Or what if we were hit by another storm?

I leaned against a wooden post, letting the sound of the horses’ soft nickers fill the silence. My thoughts drifted back to Nick, to the way his voice had trembled with shame when he handed me the potion. Despite everything, he’d been trying. I knew that now. And seeing him hurt like that… it made something inside me ache.

“Alva,” a familiar voice said, startling me.

I turned to see Nick standing in the doorway, his expression a mixture of guilt and regret. His hair was tousled, his golden-brown eyes searching mine.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice sharper than I intended.

“I went to check on Comet and Blitzen and the elves mentioned you were in here. So, I came to apologize,” he said, stepping closer. “I shouldn’t have stormed off like that.”

“You don’t have to apologize?—”

“Yes, I do.” His throat bobbed, and I knew even saying the words was hard for him, but he seemed determined to unload what was on his chest. “I can handle my father’s disappointment. I’m used to it. But yours… I couldn’t bear it. That’s why I walked away.”

The sincerity in his words caught me off guard, and for a moment, I didn’t know what to say. “Nick, I’m not disappointed in you.”

He scoffed. “You should be. I keep screwing everything up. You were right about me—I’m not ready for this.”

His words cut, and I hated that I ever said those things to him. “No, Nick. I was wrong about you. You’re not the reckless prince everyone thinks you are. You care more than you let on, and you’re stronger than you realize.”

He ran a palm down his face, blowing out a puff of frustration. “Comet and Blitzen are already doing phenomenal,” he said, changing the subject. “If it weren’t for you… You really are the heart of the operation, you know that? I should’ve been there with you, but instead I stormed off like a petulant child.”

“The more you keep telling me how awful you are, the more I’m going to keep reminding you that you’re not.”

His gaze softened, and the tension between us shifted, and an almost flirtatious smirk ghosted across his lips. Perhaps his rakish tendencies could never be fully purged from him. “Maybe I simply enjoy not hearing you say you hate me, Alva.” A charge rippled in the air, as if the storm that had raged earlier had followed us, reminding me of our intimate moment in the sleigh. He took a step closer, and then another, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Alva,” he murmured, his voice low and rough, reaching deep in my core, decadently thrumming a part of me that I never knew even existed—not until he stepped into my world.

“Nick, don’t,” I said, my words weak even to my own ears. “This… whatever this is… it can’t happen.”

He ignored me, his knuckles brushing against my cheek, sending a jolt of warmth through my body. I took a step back, but he followed, his presence overwhelming, intoxicating. I hadn’t realized I’d back us into an empty stall, my spine now up against the stable wall.

Nick drew closer, his body practically swallowing me whole. “I know you think this attraction is absurd and something we shouldn’t act on, but I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t stop craving more of your taste. What happened out in that storm wasn’t enough. It only made me hungrier for you. The image of your naked body sprawled before me won’t stop torturing me, Alva. I’ve never desired someone, not like I do you.”

“Nick, you have a duty to your kingdom, as do I. If you don’t find a wife, you’re putting everything at risk. How can I consciously give into this… thing between us? How can I possibly indulge my own desires when you’ll be courting a different female tomorrow? How can I possibly do my job as head elf and ensure you find a wife when all I want is to melt into your arms, to let you kiss me, to let you do…”

“To let me do this?” he asked, but he didn’t wait for a response. He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine, gently prying them open, sweeping his tongue inside my mouth. My world faded out of focus, everything pinpointed on him and the way he lit a fire in the center of my heart. A fire that burned with such ferocity I had no way to fight against it, except to let it consume me.

Nick’s hands reached under my cloak, hungrily touching every inch of my body, as if he didn’t take his fill tonight, we might never have another chance to be together. His lips traced my jaw, then the column of my neck. He undid the tie of my cloak and let it fall to the ground, then he pulled the collar of my sweater to the side, exposing my shoulder. His lips feathered over my skin with such tenderness and desire, my body ached for his touch to roam to every corner.

Untucking my sweater, he slid his hands underneath the fabric until he cupped my breasts, until my nipples were so hard, they ached beneath my undergarment. Winter’s grace. I knew I needed to refuse him, to push him away, but how could I when my body thirsted for him like a parched lake wishing for rainfall. I had no strength to resist him. Not when his kisses trailed a blazing path of desire across my skin. When his hands roamed my breasts with a hunger I wanted to indulge. When I wanted to be the reason that he felt sated. “Rip it down,” I said between gasps. “I want my nipples between your teeth.”

I didn’t have to tell him twice. In an instant, he lowered the undergarment covering my breasts, and his mouth was on my nakedness, his tongue swirling over my nipples, biting them with just enough force, as if he knew exactly what I wanted, what I needed.

His breaths grew shallow, and I couldn’t help myself when I reached down and cupped his erection. I didn’t know what in Thor’s Hammer came over me. Touching him could only lead to a bigger disaster, especially when he moaned as I gripped his length harder. Gods, he was like steel, and his thickness was more than I could’ve imagined. I continued to stroke him, my mouth salivating.

“Blasted Hel, Alva. If you keep doing that…”

“If I keep doing what, prince? Isn’t this what you wanted? To get me to give in to your rakish ways… To admit how badly I want you? How badly I’ve always lusted after you, you arrogant, incorrigible bastard, but never wanted to admit it because it would mean the rigid head elf had fallen for the scoundrel of a prince and his sinful smile.”

“That goes for the both of us, then. Despite my best efforts to hate how annoyingly perfect you were, how frustrated your imperious ass made me, my mind could never stop itself from wandering to a certain place…”

I gripped him tighter. “What sort of place, princeling?”

“The sort of place where you’re on your knees, head elf, and those perfect candy-apple-colored lips are wrapped around my cock. ”

Pulling back, I anchored my gaze to his, to the heat in those beautiful golden-brown eyes that swirled like a vortex of molten lava. Chest rising and falling, his hair an utter mess, I now fully understood why every female in this realm was so infatuated with him. And it wasn’t just how physically gorgeous he was. I mean, I’d seen what he looked like naked, well almost. He’d kept his undergarments on the whole time he’d been focusing on coaxing my pleasure in the middle of that storm.

He was a sight to behold. Broad shoulders, hard chest and abs. Large hands and long deft fingers…

But I’d also been a witness to the level of devotion that lived in his heart. I could only imagine what kind of lover he would be if I let him take me all the way.

He’d been the realm’s number one rake, but now, here he was, his attention wholly on me… not a lady of the kingdom, but an elf. And that thought alone made me want to obliterate all doubt and logic and simply indulge all his fantasies instead.

I dropped to my knees, never once losing contact with his eyes.

“Alva, what are you…”

“Hush, princeling. This haughty elf is about to give you what you asked for.”

I quickly unbuttoned his trousers and wasted no time pulling him free. I gasped as his cock jutted out; it wasn’t only thick and long, but it was covered in veins that roped around his length. Gods, he was so engorged, the skin around the head of his dick was pulled taut, a dewy drop already beading at the tip. He threaded his fingers in my hair as I licked his pre-cum right off with one slow swipe of my tongue, and the growly moan that leaked from his lips made the center between my legs pulse with white-hot fire.

Guiding him inside my mouth, I made sure to take my time sucking on the head, as if I was devouring the most delicious Christmas lollipop ever. His hand tightened in my hair, and I knew he was enjoying this beyond what he’d imagined in his fantasy.

He caressed my jaw with his other hand, his eyes completely locked on me and what I was doing with my mouth. “Fuck, little elf. You’re gonna make me come if you keep sucking my cock like that.”

Suddenly, voices sounded right outside the horses’ stable, probably the stable hands heading home. A jolt of excitement raced through me, catching me off guard. Nick didn’t seem to notice, but I did, and the notion that, right outside the stable, people were going on with their lives, but in here, I was on my knees, the Christmas Prince’s cock shoved deeply in my mouth, sent me into a frenzy.

I gripped him tighter and began sucking on him like I couldn’t get enough, making him roll his hips into my mouth with the same fervor. His leg muscles tightened, and I knew he was close…

Gods, this was insane. I was head elf. I had a job… a duty to ensure nothing got in the way of a perfect Christmas, yet there I was, sucking on Nick’s cock, feeling myself getting wetter and wetter at the idea of tasting the insufferable prince’s cum. For one fraction of a moment, I didn’t care about responsibility. I didn’t care if tomorrow I’d have to send him off on some ridiculous date to court some lady of the realm. Right now, he was mine, and that was all that mattered.

“Fuck… Alva…” he growled.

Hearing my name slip from his lips with such lust-filled rawness, made my insides quiver. I sucked harder and harder, thrill riding my veins with each growl, each throaty breath that escaped his lips as my mouth brought him to oblivion. With one final thrust, his body went still, his cum spilling into my mouth. Pulse after pulse of his release filled me until it leaked at the corners of my mouth. I swallowed as much as I could, looking up at him as I licked my lips clean.

Slack-jawed, he caressed my lips. “You’re so fucking beautiful, little elf. You own me, you know that? How can I go on tomorrow and pretend to want to find a bride when all I want is you?”

I stood, adjusting my clothing as he put himself back inside his trousers. As I combed my hair with my fingers, I looked at his still-dilated eyes. “Tomorrow, you and I will do what is best for the realm. But today… today belonged to us, prince.”

With that, I kissed him goodbye and left him in the stables.